If we don't make the plays, we don't deserve to win

Tonight, I'm not sure the Yanks are playing Houston - or themselves.

I realize it's late in the hurricane to be buying sandbags. It's hard for a hitter to change his ways. But champions do whatever it takes, and in my mind, it's unacceptable to watch players - and a manager - simply swing through the same failed motions again and again, without at least attempting a change. 

The Yankees are not the first team to be vexed by good pitching. Maybe what we're seeing is what almost always happens when homer-happy lineups run into solid starters: The pitching wins. But Keuchel and Verlander are not Koufax and Drysdale. They are feasting on Yankee hitters increasingly swinging for the upper decks, even when a bloop single will do. And I'm sorry, folks, but if this continues, the memory of 2017 - and all the hope it begot - will leave a sour taste through the winter.

Of course, I'm referring to Aaron Judge and Gary Sanchez, who have turned the heart of the order into a bottomless pit. In sequence upon sequence, they lunge for breaking balls out of the strike zone, then watch a fatty bisect the plate. Is this superhuman pitching, or are Judge and Sanchez simply becoming disillusioned and resigned to their fates, as we saw Granderson and A-Rod in Octobers past? Marching back to the dugout, they seem dazed, stoned, hopeless - even though Judge still forces a manic smile. Are they thinking, Oh, well, it's just a slump, and one of these days, I'll pull out? Because that's no longer the case. These next two games - hopefully four - will become the defining moments of their careers, to date. If they continue this way, their Silver Slugger awards will ring hollow over the cold winter. Remember: Last year's National League home run leader was Chris Carter. Wherever he is now, my guess is that Chris now wishes he tried choking up with two strikes.  

But this isn't mere batting adjustments. Against Houston, in play after critical play, the Yankees came up short. The relay from Judge to Didi to Sanchez. The infield hit that Altuve scratched out, and his stolen base. Bird's failure to score from second on a two-out full count, when he was running with the pitch. Gardy being thrown out at third. We made those plays against Cleveland. If we can't turn them now, I hate to say this but - gulp - we don't deserve to win.

If we win tonight, we can press RESET on the series. In New York, we watched Cleveland slowly unravel over sustained pressure. We have yet to get a lead against Houston. We have not put any pressure on their hitters or even touched their bullpen. But tonight, we're facing the hardest opponent we've yet seen. We're playing ourselves.